Staffing

Requisites

Pre-requisite: Students must be enrolled in one of the following Programs: DPCL or MPCL or PDPP

Other requisites

Students enrolled in the DPCL or MPCL program MUST enrol in the TOOWOOMBA offer of this course.
Students enrolled in the PDPP program MUST enrol in the SPRINGFIELD offer of this course.

Rationale

There are professional competencies that students must acquire before commencing supervised practice. In addition, students must be aware of their personal assumptions, values and social/interpersonal styles that can influence professional practice. This course provides the foundation for progressing to further levels of skills covered in the courses PSY8040 and PSY8050.

There are professional competencies that students must acquire that are intrinsic to supervised practice. In addition to a sound knowledge of professional ethics and procedures, students must be aware of their personal assumptions, values and social/interpersonal styles that can influence professional practice. This course informs and provides the foundation for the further skills developed in all other courses.

Synopsis

This course focuses on discipline knowledge and professional and interpersonal competencies required of students in relation to supervised practice in both mental health-specific and more general settings. Students will examine the assumptions, values and social/interpersonal skills that they bring into their professional practice. Building on these, students will develop their professional knowledge and interpersonal/professional competencies, including interviewing, developing a therapeutic alliance, and report writing. There is a focus on skill acquisition within the contexts of cultural competency and professional ethics. Learning opportunities include compulsory day-long workshops on-campus, video-based self reflective learning and feedback, readings, assignments and web-based discussion groups.

Objectives

On successful completion of this course, students will be able to demonstrate competencies as identified in the APS (Australian Psychological Society) Competencies for Psychologists (1996) and the APS College of Clinical Psychologists (2010). They will be able to:

demonstrate an ability to conduct interviews effectively to obtain information essential to conceptualise and to formulate clinical problems and establish client rapport to motivate and sustain a therapeutic alliance where appropriate;

demonstrate an understanding and application of cultural competence in working with diverse populations;

demonstrate an ability to use appropriate and effective interviewing skills;

demonstrate knowledge and application of service provision boundaries, and ethical and legal regulations within the APS Code of Ethics and Ethical Guidelines, the National Psychologists Registration Act and Regulations and the QLD Mental Health Act;

demonstrate an ability to communicate effectively with clients.

Topics

Description

Weighting(%)

1.

Developing competencies in a range of interview approaches to establish rapport and build therapeutic alliance with attention to power relationships and gender, sex and cultural sensitivities

Text and materials required to be purchased or accessed

ALL textbooks and materials available to be purchased can be sourced from USQ's Online Bookshop (unless otherwise stated). (https://bookshop.usq.edu.au/bookweb/subject.cgi?year=2012&sem=01&subject1=PSY8010)

Attendance at six on-campus workshops is required according to the 'Postgraduate Workshop Schedule' which will be posted on the Psychology Department website.

A minimum of three recorded interview sessions must be submitted each with a self reflective assessment, with sessions 1 and 2 due by Workshop 2 and session 3 due by Workshop 3.

Evaluation of clinical interviewing skills will occur in conjunction with the interview for the Viva case presentation for PSY8065.

Important assessment information

Attendance requirements:
It is the students' responsibility to attend and participate appropriately in the compulsory workshops held on-campus, where the skills components of this course will be taught. During these workshops, students will engage in the development and practice of skills for interviewing and establishing therapeutic alliance . Further, it is the students' responsibility to study all assigned material. If circumstances prevent a student from attending any portion of a workshop, the student must contact the examiner IN ADVANCE, if at all possible. The student must also contact the examiner in order to arrange an alternative activity. This could be a written assignment based on the material covered in the missed workshop. Attendance at and participation in the three workshops and/or completion of one or more alternative activities at a standard judged to be appropriate by the examiner is required before the one mark for the workshops can be awarded.

Requirements for students to complete each assessment item satisfactorily:
To complete each of the essay and test assessment items satisfactorily, students must obtain at least 50% of the marks available for the essay and the ethics test, and have satisfied the workshop attendance, self-reflection, and interview assessment requirements.

Penalties for late submission of required work:
There are no late penalties.

Requirements for student to be awarded a passing grade in the course:
To be assured of receiving a passing grade a student must achieve at least 50% of the total weighted marks available for the essay and the ethics test, must attend all workshops and must satisfy the one hour recorded interview and self-reflection assessment requirements.

Method used to combine assessment results to attain final grade:
The final grades for students will be assigned on the basis of the aggregate of the weighted marks obtained for each of the summative assessment items in the course and must attempt the workshop, self-reflection and interview assessment requirements.

Examination information:
The two hour, closed ethics test will be given in-class in Workshop 6 for MPCL/DPCL students and in the examination period for students enrolled in the PDPP. The test will consist of a number of case studies/examples with short answer questions based on the APS Code of Ethics and Ethical Guidelines, The National Psychologists Registration Act and the QLD Mental Health Act. Students may bring only writing materials into the closed test.

Examination period when Deferred/Supplementary examinations will be held:
Any deferred tests for this course will be held at a date and time determined by the examiner after consultation with the students involved. There will be no supplementary tests in this course.

University Student Policies:
Students should read the USQ policies: Definitions, Assessment and Student Academic Misconduct to avoid actions which might contravene University policies and practices. These policies can be found at http://policy.usq.edu.au.

Assessment notes

Students must submit a minimum of three 30-minute DVD's of their clinical interviews with "clients" (volunteers), each accompanied by a Self Assessment of Clinical Skills and Self Reflection Journal. Students will engage in peer review of their DVD's in consultation with the Examiner. Successful completion of this skill assessment item will be determined from the Examiner's assessment of the final clinical interviewing skills DVD to determine that minimum competency has been demonstrated.

Students must submit a 5,000 word essay focussed on a topic relevant to a factor important in establishing therapeutic relationships either in general or with respect to a particular clientele. The essay has three components: 1. a brief critical overview of the evidence research on the topic; 2. A summary and analysis of an interview with a practising psychologist regarding their practice within the topic area; and 3. a self reflection based on the student's experiences to date of their own best practice regarding the topic and identified components for futher professional development in their first practicum. This last component will be based on a written transcript of a section of one DVD which demonstrates the student's experience. The transcript will be submitted in an Appendix to the essay.

The due date for an assignment is the date by which a student must despatch an assignment to the USQ. The onus is on the student to provide proof of the despatch date, if requested by the examiner; STUDENTS MUST RETAIN A DATED RECEIPT FROM THE POST OFFICE WHEN POSTING ASSIGNMENTS.

Students must retain a copy of each item submitted for assessment. This must be despatched to the USQ within 24 hours of receipt of a request to do so.

In accordance with the University Policy, the examiner may grant an extension of the due date of an assignment in extenuating circumstances. STUDENTS MUST CONTACT THE EXAMINER DIRECTLY, IN ADVANCE, IN ORDER TO OBTAIN AN EXTENSION.

The Faculty of Sciences will NOT accept submission of assignments by facsimile.

APA style is the referencing system required in this course. Students should use APA style in their assignments to format details of the information sources they have cited in their work. The APA style to be used is defined by the USQ Library's referencing guide. http://www.usq.edu.au/library/referencing

Other requirements

Students will require regular access to e-mail and internet access to UConnect for this course.